U.VA. TO COMMEMORATE 100TH ANNIVERSARY
OF ROTUNDA FIRE THIS YEAR 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 13 -- The University of Virginia
is preparing to mark the centennial of one of the worst catastrophes
in its history but one that ultimately changed the course of a
small, struggling institution.
	The 100th anniversary of the great fire that gutted the
landmark Rotunda -- the domed building that Thomas Jefferson
designed to be the centerpiece and library of the University he
founded -- will become an opportunity for students, faculty and the
local community to take a close look at U.Va.Õs 20th-century history
as it prepares for the 21st.
  	JeffersonÕs Rotunda design began an American tradition for a
universityÕs library to be seen its symbolic heart. The disaster
that struck there Oct. 27, 1895, will be commemorated with a wide
range of research and teaching projects examining U.Va. itself; a
centennial address on the Lawn Oct. 27; an extensive public
exhibition in Alderman Library about the fire and its aftermath; and
a special community-oriented program featuring antique fire
equipment and honoring local fire companies.
	Above all the centennial will be Òa time for an
investigation of our modern roots,Ó said Jeffrey Plank, assistant
provost and chair of a committee of students and faculty who have
planned the commemoration.  ÒWe have tried to turn inward with
this.  The University will use itself as a 
100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROTUNDA FIRE -- Page 2
subject and its resources as educational tools for its students.Ó
	The fire that ravaged one of the greatest achievements of
American architecture on a Sunday morning 100 years ago brought
students, faculty and townspeople running in a valiant effort to
save the UniversityÕs book collection.  Fire companies from
throughout Central Virginia fought in vain to prevent the building
from being totally engulfed; only its outer shell was undestroyed.
	But the loss of its most important building also Òcaused a
series of events that fundamentally changed the institution,Ó
according to Commonwealth Professor Richard Guy Wilson, one of the
countryÕs leading architectural historians who will present the
centennial address.  The fireÕs aftermath galvanized important
decision-making that Òpropelled the University into a position of
leadership in the 20th century,Ó Wilson said. 
	Among significant changes that Wilson cites as being wrought
by the crisis:
	¥ The University, which under JeffersonÕs design had been
informally led by a faculty chairman, chose its first president.
Edwin Alderman, president of Tulane University, was selected in 1904
to lead U.Va. into the 20th century.
	¥ Stanford White, one of AmericaÕs foremost architects, was
hired not only to rebuild the Rotunda, but to create much-needed new
buildings that gave the University its modern character.  White
designed Cabell Hall and its well-known auditorium, and Rouss and
Cocke Halls, at the opposite end of JeffersonÕs Lawn from the
Rotunda, and laid out a basic pattern for further modern expansion.
	¥ The struggling institution began to receive new private
gifts and new assistance from the Virginia General Assembly, and
began creating an up-to-date library collection that today is world
renowned for its strengths.
	The main Fall public events related to the centennial will
include:
	¥ The U.Va. LibraryÕs exhibition ÒArise and Build!:  A
Centennial Commemoration of the 1895 Rotunda FireÓ will be on
display in the Tracy McGregor Room of Alderman Library from Oct. 6
through Jan. 6 and is open to 
100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROTUNDA FIRE -- Page 3
the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to
1 p.m. on Saturday.  The exhibition, drawn largely from the
libraryÕs Special Collections, will feature HolsingerÕs StudioÕs
photographs of the fire, newspaper accounts, official papers, plans
and drawings for the White restoration, as well as artifacts and
other photos.  JeffersonÕs original drawings for the Rotunda, other
early descriptions and images, and a brief survey of the 1973-76
restoration of the Rotunda to JeffersonÕs original design will be
included. The materials will also be available through the Internet
on the World Wide Web as a multimedia exhibition. (See attached
complete schedule for the exhibit.)
	¥ Commonwealth Professor of Architectural History Richard
Guy Wilson, author of major studies of Jefferson and Stanford White,
will present the 1995 Fall Convocation Address on Oct. 27 on the
Lawn.  He will speak on ÒThe Fire, Stanford White and the New
University of Virginia.Ó The event begins at 2 p.m. with an academic
procession and is open to the public.  As part of the Fall
Convocation, the University Guide Service will launch its ÒLiving
TourÓ created especially for the 100th anniversary year.
	¥ A variety of antique fire equipment will be on display on
Nov. 5 in the Library Quadrangle, including a 1905 horse-drawn fire
engine owned by the Charlottesville Fire Department.  Fire personnel
will show how the equipment was operated and explain how the Rotunda
fire was fought in 1895.  The University will host a private
reception for fire department members and their families. 
	Among a wide variety of research into the 20th-century
history of the University, students have been and will be examining
overlooked aspects, focusing especially on student life.  Four
graduate students and one undergraduate received summer fellowships
to write about 20th century topics, including: academic culture at
U.Va. since 1945; U.Va. and athletic architecture; Edwin AldermanÕs
presidency; labor at U.Va., and student responses to war.  Their
papers and 
100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROTUNDA FIRE -- Page 4
guides to their primary sources are being distributed to all U.Va.
professors teaching about the modern United States and will be part
of the University Archives.
	The Spring semester will feature additional courses,
workshops and exhibitions with the University as the primary focus.
The aim is to introduce undergraduate students to public- history
research methods as well as produce new research and oral-history
information about the University.  Courses will be taught by faculty
from a variety of disciplines.
	Research for a complete Lawn Residents Directory, 1895-1995,
to be published this year, has also created a new primary source of
U.Va. history.  Directed by history doctoral student Edna Johnston,
the project has involved tracking down lost or scattered records to
list for the first time all U.Va. students who have lived on
JeffersonÕs Lawn since the great Rotunda fire.
###
September 12, 1995